we could use them. "way too early" for this. good morning. i'm willie geist. this is "way too early," the show that considers itself a 5:30 a.m. picnic on a satanic altar. i'm glad you are up with us watching on msnc or listening to us on sirius radio. text us at awake followed by your response to 622639. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for this monday, september 20th. a lot to tell you about today. including the high hopes for afghan elections wiped away this weekend by fraud and ugly violence. plus the obamas go to church. screaming headlines. did all that muslim talk send the first family into the pews yesterday? we'll discuss it. first the news live at 5:30 a.m.

here at 30 rock in new york city. the battle for leader of the republican party played out over the weekend with nearly all the republican heavy hitters speaking at public events. at the values voter summit in washington, top conservative leaders took turns criticizing the obama administration and delivering a message of fiscal responsibility. huckabee and romney there. in somewhat a surprise result, mike pence, the third-ranking republican in the house finished first in the straw poll taken at the end of the summit beating out huckabee who finished with 22%, mitt romney, newt gingrich and sarah palin rounding out the top five. this all comes as the former alaska governor, sarah palin, ignited new speculation about her own political aspirations after taking center stage at a republican fund-raiser in iowa,

while they played coy about a possible run for the white house, palin stressed republicans need to come together after what has become a divisive primary season. >> now, unsuccessful gop campaigns and deflated political pundits, remember, attitudes are contagious. so make sure yours are worth catching. this is it, gop, this is our time. we can't blow it, gop, but we won't wait for that political playbook to be handed us from on high, from the elites, to tell us what to do. we won't do that. >> spent a lot of time talking elites, she called them, and the press. senator jim demint who together with palin had successfully backed a number of tea party candidates maintains his support of these candidates helped the gop's chances of gaining control of the senate this november. >> the only reason we have a chance at a majority now is a

large part for the candidates i've been supporting. candy, if the republican party in the senate was symbolized by arlen specter and charlie crist, we would not have the energy behind the candidates anywhere in the country. >> demint has been criticized for backing candidates who cannot win in general elections. the new york times is reporting that obama's advisers are considering using national advertisements. david axlerod denied such a campaign is being planned, democrats argue this would limit expected big losses force democrats in the midterm elections. on sunday's "meet the press" bill clinton and colin powell both weighing in on the tea party support. >> first of all, i think that a lot of the voters who are voting for the tea party candidates have really good impulses.

they want to see some help for ordinary people. i get that. the question is what are the specifics? what really matters is what we're going to do. and right now they've elected a lot of people who are articulate, attractive, but it's not clear what their specifics are. >> it may appeal to the fringe elements of the party, but i don't think it appeals to all republicans. i don't think it appeals to the whole country. this kind of chatter, he's a kenyan chatter and all this stuff makes news. you will find that governor palin and people on the right side of the political spectrum and along with the tea party movement really are getting a lot of attention, a lot of news and making a lot of noise. but i don't think anyone should grab that and think that's the entire country. >> powell, who endorsed obama for president in 2008, said the administration needs to focus like a razor blade on the

economy. >> there are so many rocks in our nap sack now that we are having trouble carrying it. i think the president has to like a razor blade go after the single issue that is uppermost in the minds of the american people, that's employment. he's done a lot with health care w cap and trade, with education, i understand the importance of all of that. but as far as the american people are concerned, the main attack is employment. i think he has lost some of the ability to connect that he had during the campaign. and it's not just me picking on the president, it's reflected in the polling. >> karl rove is demanding that delaware's republican senate nominee, christine o'donnell, explain comments she made in 1999 about her history with witchcraft. o'donnell's remarks came during an appearance on bill maher's politically incorrect. she appeared on that show quite a bit over the years. here is that clip. >> i dabbled in witchcraft.

i never -- >> wait a minute, you were a witch? >> yeah, show wase was a witch. >> i'm a witch. how were you a witch. >> i dabbled into witchcraft. i hung around people who were doing these things. >> having fun? >> i'm not making this stuff up. one of my dates -- one of my first dates -- >> wait. wait. i want to hear about this. >> one of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar. i didn't know it. >> your first date was on a satanic altar -- >> movie and a sacrifice. >> the best part of the clips is the guests there, jamie kennedy there doing it with christine o'donnell. bill maher played that clip recently on his new show. o'donnell had fun with the controversy. >> that witchcraft comment on bill maher, i was in high

school. how many of you didn't hang out with questionable folks in high school. no. there's been no witchcraft since. if there was, karl rove would be a supporter now. >> we all had lunches at midnight, picnics with blood in high school. come on, guys. o'donnell was scheduled to appear on "face the nation" and on "fox news sunday with chris wallace" but dropped out at the last minute of both appearances. both sunday show hosts called her out for cancelling. >> we expected to have christine o'donnell, the surprise winner of that republican senate primary up in delaware with us this morning. she called us or e-mailed us yesterday morning and told us that she was canceling, said she had scheduling conflicts and a lot of political things she's need to do in her homestate. >> this was not the program we were planning to bring you. christine o'donnell, the

surprise winner of the republican senate primary in delaware agreed to come here live in washington today to take our questions. however, late friday night her campaign canceled saying o'donnell was exhausted and had to return to delaware. saturday morning o'donnell called me and said this. i got triple booked. i had been invited to go to church and then a picnic. i have to keep my priorities to delaware voters. >> she was at another picnic. why is this front-page news? the financial times, a picture of the president, the first family walking across the street from the white house to attend church. normally going to church together on a sunday wouldn't qualify as news, president obama's visit yesterday caught the eye of a country where nearly 20% of americans believe he is muslim. president obama attended st. john's episcopal church with his family on sunday. the third time he worshipped in public since he was sworn in in january of 2009. obama so far has chosen not to

pick a home church in washington saying he does not want to subject a congregation to the disruptions of increased security and media attention. but last month's pew poll which showed 18% of americans belief obama is muslim had many suggesting he needs to worship more openly. on "morning joe" just last month, 60 minutes correspondent leslie stahl predicted yesterday's church visit. >> i am ready to make a bet -- >> okay. >> that within the next two months we see the obama family going to church. >> there you go leslie stahl, a lot of people suggesting that, too. it happened yesterday. the american hiker held in iran for more than 13 months spoke out on u.s. soil for the first time yesterday. sarah shourd insisted she and the two men detained with her never spied or committed any crime. calling the arrest a huge misunderstanding. shourd also described the final moments of her release last

tuesday and the uphill battle facing her fiance and friend. >> my gratitude goes in particular to ayatollah khamenei and president ahmadinejad for my compassionate release from detention this is not the time to celebrate. my disappointment in not sharing this with shane and josh was crushing. and i stand before you today only one-third free. >> mahmoud ahmadinejad who is in new york now for annual meetings at the u.n. general assembly, suggested that after iran's humanitarian gesture, the u.s. should follow suit and release eight iranians who he says are being held illegally in america. complaints of fraud are coming in this morning and all weekend long after afghanistan's parliamentary election on saturday. thousands of reports include incidents of ballot stuffing, voter suppression and underage voting. the afghan election commission chairman reports that on election day at least 21 voters

were killed and 46 were wounded across the country. the free and fair election foundation of afghanistan, one of the largest election monitors says it holds "serious concerns about the quality of the elections." basically peoples worst fears about that election coming true after some high hopes were hold there. still ahead on "way too early," if you went to bed early last night, you missed a big brother beating up on his little brother on national television. who is the boss in the manning household? a full day's worth of nfl highlights are just ahead. and a new study tells us what occupations lead to the highest rates of divorce. here's a hint, if you're looking for a lifetime of happiness, do not marry a massage therapist. we'll bring you that study in a minute. plus a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. ♪

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2:45 in the morning in las vegas, nevada, where celebrating and perhaps some heavy drinking after some nfl betting i'm told goes on on there on sundays. let's check the weather with bill karins. good morning. >> nice weekend. nice and simple, right? >> beautiful weekend but you have something big behind you. >> igor, a big storm, bermuda got hit hard overnight, but now it's going harmlessly out to sea. there's no threats to any land areas for much of this week. so we do get a break a beautiful morning from boston down to d.c. temperatures are a little chilly, especially outside the cities.

this afternoon will be great. no umbrellas needed. temperatures will be in the 70s as they should be this time of year. cooler back by buffalo. much of the country will be warm. still feeling like summer out there. denver, 92. dallas, 94. 90s prevalent in the southern half of the country. yesterday was 112 in phoenix for a record high. today about 106. the only trouble spots are up in the northwest. a quiet week, mr. geist. nothing to track in the tropics once igor is gone. not much stormy weather either. a nice, fall week. >> no residual effects from igor? >> just some waves if you're swimming this time of year -- >> you got bigger problems than that. thank you very much. let's turn to sports. maybe you missed the end of manning bowl 2, peyton and eli going head to head. colts hosting the giants, you could have gone to bed at halftime. eli and peyton warming up before the game. getting ready to face off. the second time in their

careers. there are their parents watching from up in the box. second quarter, peyton looking up top for one of his guys. dallas clark, shredding the giants secondary. over the shoulder catch, 14-0 colts there. in the third quarter, giants on their own 16. oh, dear. dwight freeney races in, strips eli. indy beats up on the giants, 38-14 was the final. peyton now 2-0 against his little brother eli. giants running back brandon jacobs apologizing for an incident in the third quarter where reportedly he threw his helmet into the stands. jacobs said he did not do it on purpose, he threw it in frustration and it sailed on him a bit. really? the colts fan who caught it refused to give it back for several minutes but finally surrendered it. jacobs has not been happy with his playing time and his carries

with the giants. giving somebody a soouf veer that they had taken away. the jets the over team looking for their first win. patriots, second quarter. randy moss can still do it. from tom brady. hauling in the 34-yard touchdown pass with one hand. third quarter, 14-7 pats. mark sanchez fighting the jets back. two-yard touchdown to cotchery. jets would later increase the lead to 21-14. sanchez putting away a one-yard touchdown. a big win over the patriots in a game my wife said had the two combined hottest quarterbacks in the history of the nfl. miami and minnesota, brett favre drops back into his own end zone. he a terrible day. gets hit from behind. the ball comes loose. the dolphins jump on it for the touchdown. puts them up 14-0. this game in minnesota.

vikings falling to 0-2. they were down less than two and a half left in the game. this was on fourth down. a touchdown gives them the lead. they are stopped. adrian peterson stuffed. big stand for the dolphins. minnesota 0-2. cowboys hosting the bears. the bears down four, jay cutler of the vanderbilt university goes up to devon hester, makes a great one-handed grab for a touchdown. they reviewed it, it stood. bears put it away in the fourth quarter. bears win 24-17. cowboy 0-2. michael vick getting the start for the eagles. he looked good. 13 seconds left in the first half. vick throws a bullet to maclin, a nine-yard pass. 21-17. philly holds on for a 35-32 win. a wild one in washington. texans and skins. game tied at 27 in overtime the

redskins had a big league. they appear in overtime to drill a game-winning 52-yard field goal. how many times have we seen this lately? gary kubiak calls time out before the snap. so they line up to do it again. let's see how he does on the second try. lines it up. and pushes it to the right. texans later drive the field, set up a game-winning field goal for neil rackers, he drills a 35-yarder. texans steal one, 30-27 over the redskins coming back from a 17-point deficit. yankees looking to sweep the orioles at camden yards. andy pettitte back after two months on the disabled list with a groin injury. he looked good. got cory paterson there on a breaking ball. only one one on three hits in six innings. rivera in for the save, but luke scott ties the game with a solo home run.

that does not happen. orioles ty wigginton singles to right, luke scott gets the oning run. orioles win 4-3. the yankees still have a half game lead, we tell you this because it sets up a huge four-game series between the yankees and the rays that starts tonight at yankees stadium which will likely determine who will win the american league east. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," sarah palin goes to iowa, where i'm told the process of choosing a presidential candidate begins in 16 months. she was pumped up about her candidate christine o'donnell who apparently dabbled in witchcraft back in the day. and when we come back here, we will huddle around the water cooler for a new twist in jennifer lopez's "american idol" saga. wait until you hear who one of her contestants might be? someone she was related to very closely.

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leaving the toilet seat up, turns out the u.s. divorce rate could be influenced by something much more important what your spouse does for a living. you want to sound smart today tell your friends that a new study found that dancers and choreographers have the highest rate of divorce among americans at 43.1%.

the study was based on u.s. census data which ranked bartenders and massage therapists second and third behind dancers and choreographers. those least likely to develop, optometrists, clergy or podiatrists. let's gather around the water cooler to talk about bill maher's return from hiatus. he finally after a long time off got to weigh in on president obama. >> let me show you some pictures of barack obama. he smokes. he drinks beer. he eats hot dogs. and he checks out -- if he's a

muslim, he stinks at it. obama loves war and rich people and never goes to church if that doesn't prove he's a christian, i don't know what does. >> bill maher, of course he did go to church yesterday, president obama. jennifer lopez reported to be a new judge on "american idol" for 12 million bucks a year. turns out, if she will earn her keep because her ex, ex, ex-husband, a guy named ojani noa, this guy here, she was married to him for less than a year, his manager says he is going to try out to be a contestant on "american idol." he wants to perform in front of his ex-wife. a few problems with this one. he's 36. the age limit, 28. his manager says that won't stop him from being in line in l.a. on september 22nd. remember, this is a guy who was a waiter that she met and married briefly. has tried to sell a book, a sex tape and a feature-length film about his ex-wife. still ahead on "way too early," while you were awake,

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